K-State Ready for OU Intercollegiate

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Coming off a fourth-place finish last week at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, the Kansas State women's golf team will look to keep its momentum going in the OU Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday at the par-70, 6,005-yard Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Prairie Dunes, ranked as the 25th-best course in the nation by Golf Digest in 2025-26, will welcome the Wildcats for the first time since the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in October 1994.

"We play another really tough golf course this week, but this is exactly what the ladies need if we are going to continue to elevate the program," head coach Stew Burke said. "It is great to play in your home state, and Prairie Dunes is an extremely special place to play. We had a real quick turnaround but have gotten some specific and focused practice to help us prepare. Ultimately, the goal is to keep the momentum from last week going. As we continue to face a tough test — not just on the golf course, but with the teams we face — we need to show that we are more than ready to compete against anyone in the country."

In addition to the Wildcats and host-school Oklahoma, the field at the OU Intercollegiate also features Abilene Christian, Baylor, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Texas, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, Sam Houston, Tulsa and Wichita State.

K-State will utilize the scoring lineup of senior Noa van Beek, sophomores Kelsey Chen and Nanami Nakashima, as well as freshmen Keen Visavapattamawan and Casey Kang. Additionally, sophomore Julia Ballester Barrio will make her season debut and compete as an individual.

A native of Oene, Netherlands, van Beek is coming off a career-best finish of a tie for sixth place at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, bettering her tie for seventh place last year at the MountainView Collegiate. She holds a scoring average of 71.67 this season – tied with Nakashima for the team lead – while her career scoring average of 74.19 currently ranks fourth in school history.

Chen enters the fourth tournament of the year with a 72.33 scoring average and a pair of top-20 finishes, including a tie for eighth place at the season-opening Sam Golden Invitational. The Dalian, China, native is coming off a tie for 13th place at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational.

Nakashima, a product of Kani, Japan, has been a member of the scoring lineup in all 17 career events. She has placed in the top 20 in each of the three tournaments this season, including a tie for 11th place at the Schooner Fall Classic and a tie for 12th at the season-opening Sam Golden Invitational.

Visavapattamawan is playing in her fourth collegiate event, including her third-straight as a member of the scoring lineup. She tied for 17th last week at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, her best showing of the season by two spots over her performance at the Sam Golden Invitational to begin her collegiate career. Playing as an individual in that event, the Bangkok, Thailand, native tallied a 54-hole score of 5-under par 211.

A native of Lanzhou, China, Kang made her collegiate debut last week at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational as she tied for 37th place. Ballester Barrio is competing in her 12th-career event and holds a 75.36 scoring average over two seasons. She had a career-best finish of a tie for third place in the White Sands Invitational in October 2023, while her best showing last year was a 15th-place finish at the season-opening Powercat Invitational.

A shotgun start at 9 a.m. begins play for the first 36 holes of the OU Intercollegiate on Monday as the Wildcats are paired with Florida and Oklahoma, while Tuesday's final round will be a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Live results can be followed on SCOREBOARD powered by Clippd.

– k-statesports.com –

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Women's Golf, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

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Players Mentioned

Julia Ballester Barrio

Kelsey Chen

Casey Kang

Nanami Nakashima

Noa van Beek

Keen Visavapattamawan

Kansas State University Athletics